JPH08324059A - Web taking-up bobbin and cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a web taking-up bobbin many in the number of parts but reduced in running cost and a cassette housing the same. CONSTITUTION: A web taking-up bobbin is constituted by combining a spool 10 and the driving force transmission member attached to the open end thereof in a detachable state and the driving force transmission member is equipped with the attachment inserted in the open end of the spool 10 and the torque adjusting member inserted in the attachment 20 and the attachment 20 is connected to the spool 10 in an inserted and non-revolvable state. After the use of a web, the driving force transmission member is pulled out of the spool 10 and only the spool 10 is replaced with a new one and the driving force transmission member many in the number of parts can be reutilized and the detached spool 10 can be also reutilized by recovering the same to wind a new web therearound.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a web used in a thermal transfer printer such as a thermal melt transfer or a thermal sublimation transfer, that is, a web winding bobbin for winding and supplying a transfer film or an image receiving sheet, and a web winding bobbin. Related to a cassette that stores the.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a transfer film (film coated with ink) used in a thermal transfer printer is supplied in a state of being wound on a bobbin on the unwinding side and a bobbin on the winding side. Further, in order to simplify the handling, it is supplied in the form of a cassette in which a bobbin on the unwinding side on which the transfer film is wound and a bobbin on the winding side are housed in a case. On the other hand, the image receiving sheet (sheet on which an image is formed by ink) may be supplied in a sheet-like shape, but depending on the type of printer, it is supplied in a state of being wound on a bobbin.

The web winding bobbin as described above is provided with a rotation support portion at one end and is integrally provided with a driving force transmission portion for transmitting the driving force from the printer body on the opposite side thereof. FIG. 1 shows an example of such a bobbin, in which a flange 2 is provided at one end of a tubular portion 1 for winding the web W.
The outer side of the flange 2 serves as a rotation supporting portion 1a, and the gear 3 as a driving force transmitting portion is provided on the opposite side thereof, and the outer side of the gear 3 serves as a rotating supporting portion 1b.

Further, a bobbin of the type having a torque adjusting function in the driving force transmitting portion is also used. FIG. 2 shows a bobbin of the type having the torque adjusting function. A spring 5, a gear 6, a friction plate 7, and a locking member 8 are provided on a small diameter portion 4 of the tubular portion 1 opposite to the rotation support portion 1a. They are inserted in order, the locking member 8 is non-rotatably attached to the small diameter portion 4, and the gear 6 and the friction plate 7 are rotatable.

When a bobbin having a torque adjusting function in the driving force transmitting portion is used on the unwinding side of the cassette, the tension of the web W between the unwinding side bobbin and the thermal head can be controlled. That is, by engaging the gear 6 with the claw provided in the case of the cassette to make it non-rotatable, the gear 6 and the locking member 8 slide through the friction plate 7 when the web W is unwound. Therefore, a constant tension can be applied to the web W. Further, if this bobbin is used on the winding side, it becomes possible to control the tension of the web W between the winding side bobbin and the thermal head. That is, when the bobbin on the winding side is driven from the drive unit of the printer body via the gear 6, the bobbin on the winding side rotates while the gear 6 and the locking member 8 slide through the friction plate 7, A certain amount of tension can be applied to the web W. As described above, when the bobbin shown in FIG. 2 is used, it is not necessary to provide a tension adjusting means for the web W (transfer film or image receiving sheet) in the drive portion of the printer body, and there is an advantage that the mechanism can be simplified.

[0006]

In the web winding bobbin described in the prior art, the thermal transfer film or the image receiving sheet, which is a web, is discarded after it is used, so that the running cost of consumables is high. There is. Especially Figure 2
The web winding bobbin as described above has a problem that the running cost is increased because the number of parts constituting the bobbin is large and the manufacturing process is complicated. Further, there is a similar problem with the cassette that accommodates the web winding bobbin as the unwinding side bobbin and the winding side bobbin.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to accommodate a web winding bobbin having a large number of parts and capable of reducing the running cost and storing the bobbin. It is to provide the cassette.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a web winding bobbin according to the present invention comprises a spool having a predetermined length, which has a rotation support portion at one end and an open end on the opposite side thereof.
It is configured by combining a driving force transmission member detachably attached to the open end of the spool, the driving force transmission member including an attachment inserted into the open end of the spool and a torque inserted into the attachment. An adjustment member is provided, and the attachment is connected to the spool in a non-rotatable state in the inserted state.

Further, in the cassette of the present invention, in the cassette in which the bobbin on the unwinding side and the bobbin on the winding side are housed in the case, the above-mentioned web winding bobbin is used for at least one of the bobbins. Characterize.

[0010]

In the web winding bobbin having the above-mentioned structure, when the driving force transmitting member is attached to the spool and set in the printer, the attachment of the driving force transmitting member and the spool are rotated integrally with each other. When it is removed from the spool, the entire driving force transmission member can be removed from the spool.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a web winding bobbin according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the web winding bobbin is a spool 10 having a predetermined length.
And a driving force transmission member attached to the open end (right side in the figure) of the spool 10.

The spool 10 is formed by injection-molding impact-resistant polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer resin (ABS) or the like, and has a flange 12 on one end side of a body 11 on which the transfer film F is wound. The outer end of the flange 12 serves as the rotation support portion 10a. Further, an enlarged hollow portion 13 is concentrically provided with a predetermined length at the open end opposite to the rotation support portion 10a, and a driving force transmitting member is attached to this portion.

The driving force transmitting member includes a large diameter portion 21 inserted into the open end of the spool 10 and a small diameter portion 22 on the opposite side.
An attachment 20 having a structure including a, a spring 5 of a torque adjusting member, a gear 6, a friction plate 7 made of a rubber ring, and a locking member 8 which are sequentially inserted into the small diameter portion 22 of the attachment 20.

Like the spool 10, the attachment 20 is formed by injection molding impact-resistant polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer resin (ABS) or the like, and has a large diameter portion 21 and a small diameter portion 22. Has a hollow shape that is continuous through the flange portion 23,
The large-diameter portion 21 is sized so as to be inserted into the enlarged hollow portion 13 of the spool 10 without any gap. Further, four protrusions 21 a are radially provided at the tip of the large diameter portion 21, and the large diameter portion 21 is expanded into the enlarged hollow portion 13 of the spool 10.
In the state of being inserted in, the protrusions 21a are respectively fitted in the four radial grooves 13a provided in the step portion of the enlarged hollow portion 13 so that the attachment 20 cannot rotate with respect to the spool 10. Has been done. The number of the grooves 13a and the protrusions 21a may be arbitrary. It is also possible to provide one or a plurality of splines that fit with each other on the inner peripheral surface of the enlarged hollow portion 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion 21 of the attachment 20 so that both splines cannot be rotated.

In this embodiment, the locking member 8 has a small diameter portion 22.
, While the gear 6 is rotatably inserted in the small diameter portion 22. In this way, when a certain torque or more is applied between the gear 6 and the attachment 20, the gear 6 is configured to rotate while sliding on the locking member 8 via the friction plate 7. Then, by attaching the gear 6, the friction plate 7, and the locking member 8 as described above, the rotation support portion 20a is provided at the end of the locking member 8.

The web winding bobbin of this embodiment having the above structure is used as the unwinding side A bobbin and the winding side B bobbin to be housed in the cassette as shown in FIG.
In this case, the friction plate 7 of the driving force transmission member is appropriately selected according to the bobbin on the unwinding side A or the bobbin on the winding side B. Alternatively, the tension of the transfer film F between the bobbin on the unwinding side A and the thermal head and the tension of the transfer film F between the thermal head and the bobbin on the winding side B are set by changing the biasing force of the spring 5. You can Then, both bobbins are set in the case main body 30 by the rotation supporting portions 10a and 20a at both ends, and the removable lid 40 is used to cover the bobbin to form a cassette. When both bobbins are stored in the case in this way, the bobbin gear 6 on the unwinding side A
Is engaged with the protrusion 31 of the case body 30 and cannot rotate, while the bobbin gear 6 on the winding side B is located at the slit 32 of the case body 30.

The cassette thus assembled is set in the printer for use. When used, the bobbin gear 6 on the winding side B is rotated through the slit 32 by the drive mechanism of the printer. in this case,
Bobbin spool 10 and attachment 20 on winding side B
Rotates while sliding with the gear 6 and draws out the transfer film F from the bobbin on the unwinding side A, so that the transfer film F can be satisfactorily paid out without being loosened under tension.

The cassette after the use of the transfer film F can be reused by replacing the spool 10 of each bobbin with a new one. That is, the lid 40 is removed from the case body 30, the cassette is opened, both bobbins are taken out, the driving force transmitting member is taken out from the spool 10, and a spool of the bobbin on the unwinding side A on which a new transfer film F is wound up. 10 and a state in which the original driving force transmission member is attached to the spool 10 of the bobbin on the winding side B to which one end of the new transfer film F wound on the spool 10 of the bobbin on the winding side A is attached. Then, both bobbins may be housed in the cassette again and used. With such a structure, the driving force transmission member having a large number of parts can be repeatedly used, and the spool 10 can be reused by collecting and winding the transfer film F. .

Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment but can be applied to a bobbin for winding an image receiving sheet.

[0021]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

Since the web winding bobbin according to claim 1 is used by attaching the driving force transmitting member to the spool on which the web is wound, the driving force transmitting member is pulled out from the spool after the web is used. By separating the two and replacing only the spool with a new one, it is possible to reuse the driving force transmission member with a large number of parts. Also, the removed spool can be collected and reused by winding a new web. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the running cost of the transfer film or the image receiving sheet supplied in the state of being wound on the bobbin.

In the cassette of the second aspect, the web winding bobbin is used for at least one of the unwinding side bobbin and the winding side bobbin. Therefore, by reusing this bobbin, running The cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional web winding bobbin.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of a conventional web winding bobbin.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a web winding bobbin as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a cassette using the web winding bobbin shown in FIG. 3 in a state where respective constituent members thereof are separated from each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Spool 10a Rotation Supporting Part 12 Flange 13 Enlarged Hollow Part 13a Groove 20 Attachment 20b Rotating Supporting Part 21 Large Diameter Part 21a Protrusion 22 Small Diameter Part 23 Flange Part 5 Spring 6 Gear 7 Friction Plate 8 Locking Member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A combination of a spool of a predetermined length having a rotation support portion at one end and an open end on the opposite side thereof, and a driving force transmission member detachably attached to the open end of the spool. The driving force transmission member includes an attachment to be inserted into the open end of the spool and a torque adjusting member to be inserted into the attachment, and the attachment is in a state in which the attachment cannot rotate with respect to the spool. A bobbin for winding a web, characterized in that it is connected with. 2. A cassette in which a winding-side bobbin and a winding-side bobbin are housed in a case, wherein the web winding bobbin according to claim 1 is used for at least one of the bobbins. cassette.